Bowo is not a stranger to us, and was once a netizen with a lot of hot search terms like "BBBA", "German Industry 4.0", "good - expensive", etc., but it is not the first time that Bowo has been a brand name. In fact, in the history of automobile development, Bowo did have a brilliant, and the degree of brilliance is no less than today's Tesla, but Bowo was declared bankrupt at the climax of the car's life, is it still hidden behind what unknown conspiracy? Today's brand story, let's talk about the story of Germany's Bowo.
Germany's Bowo Automotive Group was founded in 1919, the founder named Karl Bowo, is a talented, creative, and keen sense of entrepreneurship, he started just in time for the end of the First World War, when the German industry is still emerging, he became a partner in Bremen Tire Industry Ltd., the main manufacture of automotive fenders and radiators. Just five years later, Karl Bauer changed the company's name to Bauer in order to fulfill his dream of building a car, but his capital was limited at the beginning of the venture, so he chose the safest way to build a lower-cost three-wheeled vehicle, which is basically the prototype of the three-trampoline that is commonly seen on the side of the road nowadays.
After about two years, the two tricycles launched by Bowo had already taken over the streets, becoming more popular than square dances are today, and the thin margins and high sales strategy gradually filled the company's coffers, which gave Bowo more confidence. But the good times didn't last long. In 1931, the global economic depression caught up with the company, and the manufacturing industry was basically hit, and Bowo's three-wheeled vehicles were no exception. However, Karl Bowo saw a business opportunity at this time, and against multiple pressures, Bowo acquired Lufthansa Motors, which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, and began to formally produce trucks and sedans, making the first real step in the automotive field.
Three years later, at the 24th International Motorcycle and Automobile Fair, Bowo launched the Lufthansa 1100 and 1700 under the Lufthansa name, and the truck business was favored by the German government, which received a one-time order for 50 military trucks. Originally thought to be able to take advantage of a hit BaoWo did not expect, Germany triggered the Second World War, and BaoWo was also forced to Germany's chariot, to help it manufacture tanks, trucks and other military models. People who don't know history know that Germany eventually lost the war, and Karl Bauer became a war criminal for producing war tools and was sentenced to two years in prison, and Bauer cars began to be regulated by the government.
Just when everyone thought that Bauwer was finished, this low point didn't just become the straw that broke Bauwer's back, it became the driving force behind it. After the resumption of production, Bowo's main business was to build trucks, but it also launched a vehicle repair and spare parts manufacturing business. In less than a year, Bowo managed to get out from under government supervision and opened the door to greatness with its outstanding performance.
Bowers' first sedan after World War II was called the Lufthansa 1500, which gave consumers a way to spend their money in the newly recovering German industry. The Lufthansa 1500's popularity allowed Bauer to quickly build up its funds and set the brand's future direction of "luxury" in motion.
After that, BMW took the lead in using direct injection engines and automatic transmissions, and in just ten years it became a globally recognized trademark, making a splash across Europe and even across the pond in the United States, and leaping to become Germany's third-largest automaker, and at its peak even occupying half of Germany's export car market. Indicating that although looking very scenic, but in fact Bovol at this time is facing technical problems with the automatic transmission, its sub-brands have also been losing money year after year, but also dragging Bovol's legs, Carl Bovol can only tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall.
Suddenly, Bowo's crisis appeared, and a large order from the US that had already been negotiated was suddenly canceled, causing Bowo's already thin capital chain to completely break, and the media also used this as a means of generating a lot of hype, so that financial institutions didn't dare to lend Bowo money, and Bowo could only apply for bankruptcy and liquidation. At this time there is a dramatic scene, responsible for the liquidation of Bowo government personnel have another layer of identity, BMW board members. BMW was its biggest competitor at the time, and some of the design concepts that BMW was working on for its sporty cars became BMW's labels shortly thereafter.
It would have seemed like the end of the story here, but a man from the Bauer family came forward and blustered in front of the media, saying that all Bauers would always be at loggerheads with BMW and the Bremen government. According to him, the cause of the bankruptcy is because Bowo disdained to play with capitalism, no loans in the bank, has been to maintain financial independence, annoyed the government and financial institutions, BMW also took the opportunity to intervene in a foot, want to replace the Bowo, so a number of forces in one fell swoop, Bowo ultimately "tragic" under their conspiracy. Although the wind will not come from an empty cave, but this is ultimately a member of the BMW side of the story, at the time of the German newspaper "Der Spiegel" said that the BMW is because of the unfavorable liquidity, the government does not provide help to lead to it, which did not even mention BMW. Decades later, we'll probably never know what the truth is, but in any case, BMW did leave an indelible mark on the history of the automotive industry, and its contributions will always be recorded in the heavy history books.
Ps. The domestic Bovos you see on the road now are just names stained with historical dust. So I decided to change my name to Li Bai today. I implore my folks to call me "Poetry Fairy" to help me fulfill my KPIs.
This article was written by the author of Automotive Home, and does not represent the viewpoint of Automotive Home.